


With the hate of some other man's beliefs

by viveriveniversumvivusvici55



Series: Command me to be well [2]
Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: Anger is Hot, Bible Quotes, Blasphemy, Catholic Character, I am most DEFINITELY going to hell, M/M, Priest Kink, Religious Discussion, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Rough Sex, Seduction through Bible Verses, Song: Foreigner's God (Hozier), Sweet Ending, Wall Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22043071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viveriveniversumvivusvici55/pseuds/viveriveniversumvivusvici55
Summary: Screaming the nameOf a foreigner's GodMax and Asher try to settle their religious differences in the way that seems to work for them.
Relationships: Male Captain/Maximillian DeSoto, The Captain/Maximillian DeSoto
Series: Command me to be well [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586686
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	With the hate of some other man's beliefs

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I state that I am not Catholic and there are some specifics about the faith that I am only getting from reading. If I depict something wrong, I apologize. I also acknowledge that I am very atheist and so some of my opinions about organized religion definitely slipped in.
> 
> But I am weak and the smut called to me, so here I am.

Max had thought that learning about the older Earth faiths was going to be an important learning experience. One learns to move forward by learning the past, after all. Even while that past might be forbidden - and it certainly is, if Asher was caught by the Board praying in public, the man might just be thrown into Tartarus - it does us good to know. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Not at all. However, the more that Max and Asher talk about faith _(and not talk about it, they do a lot of **not** talking about faith to the point that the crew leave the room whenever the word 'God' is used in conversation)_, the less answers Max gets and the angrier he feels.

Not because of the similarities, not in the slightest. Any religion, Max thinks, has to have a few basic foundations, especially one with a deity. A plan to follow, a divine hand creating and leading the people who believe, and a better future for those who follow the plan and live as best they can. In fact, those similarities make Max feel a little more comfortable. It makes Asher's faith something grounded and knowable.

It is the differences, and the wide breadth of them. How involved Asher's God is with his flock, the mess of intricate rituals the faithful have to follow to earn the God's approval, the blatant rejection of science and history if it did not match the history written in the Holy Book, and not to mention the idea of a torturous afterlife awaiting those who did not follow. But perhaps the greatest thing that Max takes offense to - the thing that makes him the angriest - is how the faith can't decide if God is omnipotent and loving, or human and vengeful. In fact, the deity is _too_ human, and it makes him grind his teeth.

_How can something so fickle and capricious set a divine perfect plan in motion? It poses too many faults._

And the idea of great sin, of parts of humanity that needed to repressed. Murder and theft and such crimes, Max understands. But others...Asher had found a copy of one of the holy volumes, Leviticus, and the sheer amount of rules made a vein pop in Max's forehead. It still does, when he is sitting at his desk, filling his journal with his research and thoughts about the ancient religions and the Plan. It occasionally makes him rip a page with his pen, digging deep into the paper as he practically growls with rage. Finally, he can't seem to think anymore, too wrapped up in the idea of how _wrong_ that faith is and why Asher believes in it, how can Asher believe in something that believes he is _wrong?_

His feet carry him to the Captain's door without thinking. His fist pounds on the door just the same.

"Come in, Max," comes a slightly amused voice inside.

The door slides open and Max stalks in. He should be surprised that the captain knows him by his tread now, or perhaps recognizes his particular variety of angry stomping. That is a focus for another time. Now, Max just slams the door behind him and glares at the bunk. Asher is sprawled out on top of the covers. His shirt is off. His curls are messy, a single one trailing on his forehead, and his bare toes press into the blanket. And there is that necklace. It rests against his collarbone, the metal shining in the dim ship light, and Max feels his fists clench by his side. That damn thing. Taunting him.

Asher puts his datapad back down beside the bed and sits up, resting his forearms on his knees. "Something bothering you, Max?"

Max scoffs. "Something bothering me? Why would something be bothering me?"

"Because you look like a raptidon that got its temperature taken with a tossball stick."

The metaphor startles Max for a moment, drawing him out of his anger as he stares at the captain. Asher's smile is lopsided, eyes twinkling and amused. Max finds a moment within his anger to snicker. "You have a way with words, Captain."

"I try. But you ain't answering the question," Asher replies. "Come on, what's up? Confessional is always open."

And just like that, Max's anger floods in. "Don't bring your God into this."

Asher raises his hands in surrender as he stands. "I'm not, I'm not. Just an expression. Here to listen. But...I think you just answered my question."

Sometimes, Max hates how perceptive Asher is. "Why do you still believe in your God?"

A delicate eyebrow raises, and Asher's gaze stares into him. "Because there is too much bullshit in this world for me to not believe that there is someone out there with a hand in it."

That is...a good response. Max certainly can't fault him for that. "But your God isn't truly divine. Even if we put aside any idea of whether or not your God exists, he's not truly divine because he's too _human."_

Asher's smile goes sharp. "You've been reading my Bible, Max? Got you thinking?"

_Got me ANGRY._

Max snaps, "You're damned right I have."

"I don't gotta do a baptism, now do I?" Asher grins. "I don't have that kind of authority."

There is a snarl, and Asher relents. "Now, now, just yanking your chain, Max." He steps around Max and walks over to the desk by the window. He pours them both a shot of Spectrum, Max can see the red bottle, and passes one over. "So, why do you think the Lord Almighty is human?"

The vicar takes a moment to down the shot and relish the burn as it runs down his throat. Good. A little pain to focus. He watches Asher drink, sees the slight bob of the man's throat and the curve of his neck, and the anger starts to take a familiar turn. There is something about Asher that infuriates him, even as he revels in it. The Plan crafted Asher to perfection with the intent to make Max think, to question, and to drive him wild. It's a deadly combination, and when Asher looks back at him, smile in place, Max knows that Asher knows it too.

That's even more infuriating.

"Because the idea of the divine is to be completely separate from humanity, greater than it," he begins, "and your God thrives in the human condition, the emotions of it. The idea of God as loving, as vengeful, all knowing and understanding of every shift in the plan? Never mind that your God can't seem to decide on how he wants to be. One moment he is kind and decries violence, the next he is sending it down with fury upon his people."

"That is why we are drawn to Him," Asher replies. "Perhaps he is human in spirit,and that makes him feel more welcome as a heavenly father."

"Loving someone isn't to make them suffer," Max snaps.

"Isn't it?"

Asher is purposely antagonising him now. Max knows it. He slams the shot glass down and stalks closer to Asher. Asher backs up to get away, that stupid grin still in place, until he is pressed back against the wall.

"Is that the foundation of your faith? To earn love, you must suffer?"

"Welcome to Catholicism, Max."

Max can't breathe. "But how can you believe in something that believes you are wrong? That how you love earns you suffering in the future?"

Something in Asher's face sets. That definitely hit a nerve.

"'Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men will inherit the kingdom of God.'" Max adds, feeling a little vindictive.  


"You forget how that ends," Asher replies. "'And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.' The Lord loves us, and in following him, our sins are forgiven. I do applaud you for remembering that whole thing, though."

Max snarls as he slams Asher against the wall. Asher lets him, and his cheeks go red. The man is beautiful, even in his blasphemy, and Max swallows, blood racing in his veins.

"Tell me more, Max," Asher smiles. "Hear me, Vicar, for I have sinned. I seek to hear your words, your teachings, what you have learned of my God. _Show me, Max."_

Max is a holy man, perhaps, but he is not a good man. Anger has filled him, every word from Asher's lips bellows to an inner flame, and now the heat is twisting with something else. Asher wanted Max to show him the fury of the Law against that of the Lord?

_Oh I shall._

“Ezekiel,” Max snaps, caging Asher against the wall. "How vindictive your Lord is."

Asher begins, expression amused. “"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper.”

“You know that’s not what I'm referring to."

“Then show me.” Asher’s hips snap up against his and Max groans. His hips roll to match them, and Asher lets out a low sound.

Max summons his lowest voice, the voice that he uses in battle, the voice that he thinks a righteous preacher of Asher's faith would use. "'And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers,'” Max growls, voice filling the room.

Asher whimpers. A hand comes up to touch Max's collar, tracing over the gold edge.

A lover of holy men. Max can use that.

He leans forward, mouth to Asher’s ear, and hisses, “And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."” His hips drag heavy and slow across Asher's, grinding into him hard, and the Captain lets out a cry of pleasure.

There are no words, only Asher's wild eyes staring at him. 

"Am I your Lord then? You long for my vengeance?" Max is savage. "To earn my love, you must suffer. Shall you then?"

 _"Yes,"_ Asher begs. His fingers knot in Max's cassock. "Please, Max."

"Then pray I will hear you," Max grins. He bites the lobe to make Asher whine, and he leans back to grab at Asher's belt buckle. Asher does the same for him, their hands bumping into each other with frenetic energy. They can't even manage to stick to the task, breaking it up to kiss. Max fights dirty. He doesn't take off his cassock, only his trousers, and as Asher stands naked before him, he can see the man's eyes falling to his collar. Max grins.

"Confess, my son. Tell me your desires."

Asher whines. His hips rock against Max's, but Max leans his hips away and pins Asher to the wall.

_"Confess."_

"Max, _please-"_

"Is that how you want to address me?" 

Asher's eyes go dark, his cheeks reddening more, and he swallows. Finally, he gets his words together. "Please, Vicar, _please."_

Oh, that definitely does something for him. Max grins. "Much better. What do you desire, my son?"

Asher doesn't hesitate now. "Fuck me, Vicar. Please."

 _With pleasure._ Max doesn't use any words now. He pulls Asher back from the wall and spins him around. A foot spreads Asher's legs apart, and Max carefully kneels. His knees aren't quite as good as they used to be, not properly made for kneeling on hard metal floors to put his face between ass cheeks...but that isn't going to stop him. His hands spread Asher open and he feasts gladly. Asher moans into the wall, forehead against the metal, mouth pressed against his arm in a futile attempt to muffle the sound. As Max eats sloppily, broad strokes of his tongue over the hole and pressing in, Asher's cries grow in volume, an occasional whimper of 'Vicar, please' breaking the sounds. It's beautiful.

When Max draws away to breathe and move to the next step, Asher whines with the emptiness. In a brief moment of gentleness, Max presses a kiss just above the crack of Asher's ass. "Patience, my son." He's honestly proud that he's managed to keep up the script for so long. The words aren't quite natural, but they flow like they have crawled out of his darkest thoughts. They slip from fantasies of a faceless person sucking him off while sitting at his desk at the Edgewater mission, of someone confessing to him in the back room of the office, of his own teenage fumblings in the seminary. They are dark thoughts, hunger wrapped in religion as he has always done. They are hungry for more, and Max has always given in to his hunger.

"Lube," he snarls. "Oil to anoint you."

It takes Asher a second to gather himself enough to move, but he moves like lightning, stretching to the desk, fumbling through a drawer, and grabbing a tube of some kind of jelly. It's easy to find, easy to grab. It makes Max moan at the thought of Asher stroking himself with it at his desk, facing out the window for anyone who flew by to see. He takes it, cracking the tube open, and smears some on his fingers.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name," Asher manages. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

"Oh, it shall," Max grins, and bites a cheek. Asher moans, and Max presses in a finger.

He knows Asher now, knows how rough is too rough, and he works the man open at an appropriate pace. Asher fumbles through prayers the whole time, hardly able to get through them with how he moans. One press to his prostate with Max's broad fingers and Asher is sobbing. His cries alternate between "God" and "Max", and while part of Max is pleased to be placed so high, he wants his own to outnumber.

More jelly for his cock. Asher takes the opportunity to spin, back against the metal, and Max takes a moment to look, stroking himself to edge himself.

"Look at you," Max smiles. "Made perfectly for my cock. The Plan knew what it was doing with you."

Asher goes redder.

"Are you ready?"

The Captain grins. His arms go around Max's neck and he lifts a leg to wrap it around Max's hip. The flexibility makes Max groan a little, and he has to let go of his cock to keep himself under control. A hand anchors Asher's hip, and he lines himself up.

"Make me suffer for your love, Vicar."

And Max does.

Asher's fingers desperately try to find purchase in Max's hair, in his cassock, in his skin. Nails drag into his skin, leaving red trails behind. His head bangs once against the wall, wrapped up in a cry of Max's name, but he muffles the sounds against Max's mouth. If he disagrees with the taste of ass, he doesn't seem to care. He just kisses Max with everything he's got, rocking into Max's thrusts, and Max takes everything he has to offer. Then he spins Asher back around, bends him over, and presses in again to aim deeper.

" _ **Max!**_ " Asher wails, and Max, through his panting, grins.

"Where is your God now?" He manages, snapping his hips in sharply, and Asher cries out, biting into his arm to muffle the sound. "Is this where he belongs?"

" _Vicar-"_

"Is it?"

Asher manages a "No!", and Max rewards him with a slow drag against his prostate. That makes Asher clench around him, and Max bites out a curse. There will be bruises in the shape of Max's fingers on Asher's hips, but he doesn't care. He just slams his hips faster, chasing the edge that hangs just out of reach. He doesn't reach for Asher's cock, but Asher takes care of that himself, a hand furiously working between his legs. There is a desperate chant of his name, his name filling the room like a hymn, and as Asher groans with climax, Max follows with ease. He slumps forward, resting against the curve of Asher's back, hips making little abortive thrusts with the aftershocks. They linger for a moment, Asher's lone arm holding them up against the wall. 

Finally, they draw apart, sticky. As soon as they both straighten, Asher turns, cups his face, and gives Max a slow kiss. It's sweet, almost painfully so in contrast to their previous words and movements. Max's eyes flutter with the kiss, his hands not sure where to rest. Anger is a familiar friend, and hunger too. He knows them intimately and follows their path often.

But love? Not since his parents, and not until Asher draws back and looks at him with fondness that makes Max's heart ache.

"I don't have all the answers, Max," he says softly.

"I know."

"I hope you find them. I want to help you find them. Even after the hermit, if you'll have me."

"You'd still have me?"

Asher shakes his head in disbelief, looking at him fondly. "Permit me one more verse?"

Max sighs. "Fine. Just one." _God makes his way in after all._

“'Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go," Asher presses a soft kiss to his temple, at the edge of Max's crow's feet. "And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.'"

Max swallows, the tenderness stabbing at him. Asher's fingers smooth over his cheeks, his eyes soft, and Max feels blunt edges around his heart slowly easing.

"Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.'"

...Perhaps God had the right idea after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact – the verse Taraninto quotes is not Ezekiel 25:17. It simply says:  
> "And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."  
> Another movie said it wrong, and Tarantino took that as the quote we know and love from Pulp Fiction.


End file.
